Just The Way She Liked It
by Sosie98
Summary: "Pepper rolled her eyes and climbed into bed beside him, leaving on the lamp, one identical to the one she'd smashed John's head with. Funny." A super long one-shot of domestic violence and a true test of love. Rated T for domestic violence issues. Tony/Pepper Pepper Potts and Tony Stark Don't worry, Pepper doesn't do the beating up. And Tony still has a great sense of humor. AU


_This one-shot is a mixture of sadness and humor and romance and everything that is Tony and Pepper. There's really no explanation for it besides the fact that this has been stuck inside my head for days and days and days. I really, really like how this turned out and I hope you enjoy it._

It was cold. So cold that she wondered why she had picked this day. Why not some time in Summer? That, after all, was her favorite time of year. So why not? Oh, that's right, because of him. Because John thought it would be stupid to pick a time when everything was too overly colorful. That was what she got for marrying a doctor. He was a monotone mess. She'd have to teach him something about colors later, if he wanted to hear it.

She couldn't believe it was actually happening. As she stood in her dressing room with her mother on one side and her sister on the other, she didn't know if she really was excited. She definitely wasn't as excited as she thought she should be. So let's see. She was wearing the dress. Check. She had the pink flowers she had begged John for. Check. She had on the veil. Check. So what was missing?

She looked down at the flats peeping out from her dress. She wished she could wear her heels, but John was much too short for that. Even in his shoes that were, slightly, elevated, she had an inch on him. It wasn't ideal, but she was in love with him. Right? She was in love with him, wasn't she?

"Virginia?" her mother asked, "Are you alright. You've been staring in the mirror for twenty minutes."

"Do you not like your hair? Cause I swear I'll redo it in fifteen minutes," her sister said hurriedly, wringing her hands together with a nervousness exceeding the bride's.

"It's lovely," she smiled, "Very lovely. Thank you _so_ much."

"You sound excited." Said Mrs. Potts, adjusting her own hair in the mirror, "There's obviously something wrong. Maybe we can girl talk it out?"

"Mom, honestly," said Pepper, twirling a finger through a singular curl falling from her up-do, "You've never been a pro at girl talk."

Mrs. Potts smirked, "I think I can manage."

Pepper bit her lip, but shook her head, "No, I think it's time for you two to walk down the aisle anyway."

"I can't believe you didn't make me a Maid of Honor, Ginny," her sister scoffed, "Honestly…"

"I already told you. John didn't think it was appropriate to have Ladies in Waiting or anything. He said this day is supposed to be about him and me."

"But he has groomsmen?" she said with a pointed look, "Doesn't seem very fair to me."

Pepper kissed her on the cheek and put a hand on her back, "Annie. Go, now."

And Pepper was left alone. She sank down on the small couch, her dress ballooning around her. She looked good. She knew that. She was just so scared. With no father to walk her down the aisle, Pepper would be going at it alone. This whole wedding seemed to be one feat of strength after another. And after everything that had happened two nights ago… well, she was extremely befuddled.

It was then that he walked in the door, giving her his trademark grin and wearing a designer suit, his arms held out for a hug. Pepper stared at him in horror for a second, looked down at the floor and then back up at him before exploding.

"What are you _doing _here?"

Tony Stark put his arms down, "You didn't _want_ to see me?"

"It's not that I didn't want to see you… it's just that…"

"Pepper," he said, looking over at her as he sat beside her on the couch, "You think_ I'm_ going to miss your wedding."

"I _hoped_ you would miss my wedding. You did have a very fun imagineers meeting scheduled for today. I know how much you like those."

"This is much more important."

Pepper didn't want to think about how that made her feel. Instead she decided on handing Tony the facts. That's what he needed and that's how she would get rid of him, plain and simple.

"Look, John really didn't want you to come today. He thinks you and I had something going a while ago and…"

"He's jealous?" Tony looked at Pepper incredulously, "And you're marrying him because..?"

"Because he's a good man."

"Yeah, he's really good."

"What?"

"There's another reason he didn't want me here today."

"I don't want to hear it."

The momentary look of anger that had flashed over Tony's face was erased and he looked over at her with pure empathy, "It's not _his_ decision who you invite to your wedding. If he's your husband he's going to have to learn to compromise. You're a business woman. He can't expect you to move all over the country when his "career" takes off."

Pepper looked down at the ground, "Wait… you're planning to move with him? Away? To where?"

Pepper shook her head, "You're not gonna make me cry now, Tony, okay, I don't have time to do my makeup."

He took her by her shoulders, "Pepper, he's ruling over you. You're a stronger woman than this. Since when do you care what he says. You argue with me all the time."

Pepper grimaced and shrugged his hands off like he'd hurt her, "Yeah, but you're not him."

Pepper heard the music. That music she'd been dreaming about for so long. The music she'd thought would play on the happiest day of her life.

Tony's shoulders dropped and he looked at her with a bit of loneliness that Pepper had never really seen on his face before, "Well, I guess you have to go."

She nodded and they stared at each other for a moment too long. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.  
"We'll stay in contact, I promise."

He nodded and looked down at the ground, refusing to look as Pepper slid out the door of the dressing room and walked down the aisle. Pepper thought she saw a tear fall down his cheek.

…

John had decided on a traditional mass. One, that in Pepper's opinion, went on far too long. Tony apparently agreed, because he had been tapping his foot impatiently for pretty much the whole ceremony. She couldn't help looking down at him from the altar. After all, for a man who had looked so dejected moments earlier he had managed to put on a pretty convincing poker face.

Pepper missed her heels. Her feet were starting to hurt from wearing flats for so long. She never did. But this was just one compromise she was going to have to make. It was her fault for marrying such a short man. It was because of all this that Pepper missed her cue to say "I do." It's not like she was having second thoughts or anything. No, of course not.

And that was also why she didn't really notice the loud gasp from the back of the room when Tony stood up and yelled "I object" so loudly that God probably could have heard him. It was her fault of course. She should have made him promise not to do anything stupid. But then he probably would've said it was the smartest thing to do because of what was coming next.

"Pepper," he yelled, ignoring the wide eyed stares, "He's been cheating on you with the girl you were going to have as your Maid of Honor. I caught them the other night. That's why he didn't want me here or her here."

"He's lying," John growled into her ear, he had tightened his grip on her arm.

"I'm not lying," the way Tony said it sounded a little pathetic, "JARVIS has the security tape from your bachelorette party. I'll show it to you."

Pepper looked scared. John's grip on her arm was horribly tight and she didn't know what would happen if she tried to pull away.

"How could you do this to me?" she whispered, tears filling her eyes, "I thought you loved me."

"Virginia, please, I do love you. That man is a liar. Please, I love you so much."

"No," she whispered, and shook her head, "No, no, no. This cannot be happening. You're lying you freaking jerk!"

She pulled away and he jerked her towards him. Pepper lost her breath, "You little whore. I knew you two had something going. This was your plan all along, huh? To spend my money on this nice little ceremony that you wanted and leave? Well, it's not going to work. You're staying with me, bitch, whether you like it or not."

Pepper was sobbing now, but speaking so quietly that no one else could hear her, "I didn't want this…"

And he slapped her backhanded across her face. Seizing her chance, Pepper kicked him in the balls (he was lucky she wasn't wearing her heels), and ran for her life. Tears streamed down her face, leaving mascara trails in their wake. She wasn't aware of anything until she tripped over her dress and fell face forward into the muddy surroundings of their outdoor wedding.

Rolling over and sitting up, she stared down at her ruined dress, her ruined hair, ruined wedding. She could barely see what was in front of her she was crying so hard. Then someone grabbed her face and she scooted back so quickly. No… not, again. Never, again. Not in front of her family. Please not in front of the people she loved.

"Shh… shh, Pepper, hey, it's me," Tony was there. Why was Tony there? He wasn't supposed to be at her wedding. Why was he here?

"You're okay. Everything's okay, alright? We're okay. It's all gonna be fine."

Why was he telling her this? It wasn't going to be okay. It would never going to be okay ever, ever again.

"Pepper, Peps, please tell me what's going on inside your head? Please help me understand."

"Just because you say please doesn't mean I'm anymore swayed."

"Thank god," he breathed and hugged her, "I thought you'd hit your head on a rock or something. You were acting weird."

"I can't believe this. I cannot believe this."

"Pepper, this is Stage 2 of the stages of loss: anger. Be aware that whatever you do has consequences…"

"You are not my mother, Tony." She said, getting to her feet and brushing the mud off her dress, it stuck to her in clumps, there is no way she was going to save it now, "Look at this!" she yelled, "This was a five-thousand dollar dress. Oh my god! I'm gonna go beat the hell out of him, just like he…"

And then she went silent when she realized what she'd said, "He beat you?" Tony whispered in horror, looking at her like she was death itself, "I'm calling the cops."

"No," she said, shaking her head emphatically, "Please don't, I…"

"Just because you say please doesn't mean I'm anymore swayed."

"Honestly, Tony, he got what he deserved. I'm not marrying him anymore, right? I won't get hurt."

"You're not the only person involved in this issue," he said, dialing in the number to the nearest police station, "You're not with him anymore, that's what matters to me. But now he's going to come in contact with some other sweet girl and attack her just the way he attacked you."

"You and I both know how it is to work long and hard towards a goal. He just got his medical license! If he went to prison they would take that away from him. I think he deserves to be punished just as much as you do. But he is a very good doctor and he never beats his patients. Maybe we should think this through?"

"Anyone who hurts you, Peps, is as good as dead in my book. I'm calling the cops and they'll make their decision, okay?"

She nodded. She knew he was doing the right thing, but, at the same time, there was a part of her that was still attached to that piece of scum she'd been engaged to, even though he obviously had never been too attached to her.

…

Pepper held her head high as she walked back into the reception area. Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she stepped inside. She had changed into the short white dress that she was supposed to wear for the reception and had on her favorite Christian Louboutin heels. She'd missed them dearly.

"Hi, everyone," she said, smiling around, avoiding John who was still standing hopefully up at the altar, "As you can obviously see, this wedding won't be happening today." There was a disappointed sigh from John's side of the crowd and a beaming smile from everyone on Pepper's, "However, my family is invited to attend a non-reception party. You can just follow the limo or ride with us! Thanks everyone for coming out today, and I'm sorry this wedding didn't have the fairytale ending we all wanted it to have. Oh, and John, some men just arrived who wish to speak with you."

Pepper gestured behind her at the two policemen standing in the shadows and watched as John blanched. It was satisfying to say the least.

…

Pepper climbed into the limousine after Tony, her mother and sister following with all her youngest cousins who decided they should have the once in a lifetime experience of riding in a limo. She'd missed this car. Everything about it seemed like home. She hadn't gone in to work since about a week before the wedding. There had simply been too much to plan.

"Ginny," said Annie, looking about ready to pass out from worry, "Are you okay? Oh, goodness, Ginny. He hit you! Had he hit you before? Oh, God! I was so scared. And then you came back and you said you weren't gonna have the wedding anymore. And then I was terribly disappointed. But I was more angry at him. Because… oh my God he hit you, and I didn't know you knew Tony Stark! And oh my God, that was like something out of a fairytale. He objected to your marriage? How sweet is that? Seriously, that made it all better. But… oh Ginny, please promise you're alright!"

"Annie," she said, smiling, "I promise to God I'm fine, you're too much of a worrier."

"It's inherited," said Tony, pulling out a remote control and firing up the TV.

"Shut up."

"Honestly, Virginia," said Mrs. Potts, who seemed anxious as well, "Has he hit you before?"

"I-he…no."

"Yes." Tony interrupted, setting the remote down and moving forward so he could get a better view of Mrs. Potts face, "I called the cops because she told me he did and I don't know how much and I don't know why, but I'm hoping…"

"I told the cops everything Tony."

"Well, good."

It was silent for a moment and then Mrs. Potts blurted, "I can't believe I supported this wedding. I was so excited! I was so sure he was the one. He was a doctor and he could have provided well for you and… you're 35, Virginia. You're still just as pretty as you were at 26. You should have men flocking to you... and you just don't. What are you saying to them when you go out to all these Los Angeles nightclubs? What?"

Pepper smiled one of those soft smiles she always gave when she was resigned to something, "Sadly, I don't go out to all those 'fancy LA nightclubs,' Mom. I stay at work until about 11:00 at night. I don't have time for relationships. The only reason John and I kind of had something going was because he worked almost as much as I did. It's a choice, Mom. A choice I made a long time ago. And I don't mind it really. I have some really close friends who will always have my back, and I'll be happy as long as they're with me."

Mrs. Potts went quiet and then looked up at Pepper again, "Then I'm very happy for you, dear. I guess I'll just have to rely on Annie to provide me with my grandchildren."

"Mom… that's disgusting," Annie said, crinkling her nose in disgust, "Of course, I'm sure Mr. Stark wouldn't agree."

"You're a very immature child." Said Tony, looking at her full in the face.

"You're a very immature adult. I've read about you in the tabloids. You get drunk and go out to parties and have sex with like everyone."

"Correction. I used to do that. And I've heard about you from Pepper, and I know you still sleep with the nightlight on and you're eleven years old."

They smiled at each other and nodded contentedly, "I like her, Pepper," Tony said leaning back against the seat and turning his attention back to the television, "Let's keep her."

Pepper put her arm around her sister, "I agree. She's respectfully evil, just like us."

"It's the perfect combination," he agreed, and then gasped, "Oh my god. Pepper. What else is respectfully evil and is part of the best show on the planet?"

"Oh my god! Is it on?"

"Yes! This is going to be the best car ride in the history of car rides."

"What is it?" asked Annie, trying to break Tony's eye contact with the screen.

"It's Dance Moms. The one only reality TV show capable of holding my attention for more than 20 seconds. Best hour of my life."

…

By the time they got out of the limo, everyone had inside had been converted to true Dance Moms fans, and all the cars behind them had been sent a play by play via JARVIS of what was happening in each scene. It was entertaining to say the least.

Tony walked everyone up to the house and unlocked the door, letting them into his mansion and giving JARVIS instructions to prepare something equivalent to a Thanksgiving Feast. Pepper and Mrs. Potts jointly carried her ruined wedding dress and make-up bags up the driveway.

"You know, Virginia," her mother said thoughtfully, "That Tony Stark. He's a nice man. He'll provide well for you, huh?"

"Mother… I can see where you're going with this, but…"

"It's common sense. You have the same schedules. You're constantly together. You're at work, at his house, till 11:00 at night. It's the same thing as living together, and you've been great friends for the past, what, eight years? Why not make it official? We already have a wedding set up…"

"No, no, no," she said with a shake of her head, "Tony may be a great guy. But he's a flawed person and it's not always easy to be his friend. Well… most of the time it is, but… Mother, he doesn't even like me."

"I doubt that…"

"I was supposed to get married today and instead I was beaten in front of my friends and family," gesturing to the bruise that was starting to form on her cheek, "I don't want any more disappointments."

"Okay, okay," Mrs. Potts said, nodding, and then gasped as she walked in the door of the house, "This must be what the inside of Cinderella's castle looks like."

"You know it," Tony said, smiling at Pepper, from where he was typing line after line of code into the wall to send cooking instructions for JARVIS, "By the way, Peps, I told Rhodey the news and he said he'd be here as soon as he could."

"You're not getting him in trouble, are you?" she asked, worriedly, "I thought he was supposed to be leaving for those Middle East peace talks today."

"Hey, c'mon," he smiled, "Worst happens he gets fired. JK, LOL."

"My sister's right. No mature adult talks in texting language."

"I call it ghetto speech, if you get my jive." He broke into one of those heart melting smiles he always pulled on the cameras.

"Oh my god, get away from me Tony, just get away."

"Fine, I won't bother you with my immature humor any longer. BTDubs Peps, yo mama so fat, when she sat on a rainbow, skittles fell out. No offense, Mrs. Potts."

"None taken," Mrs. Potts said with a smirk.

Pepper had the decency to roll her eyes, "I'm putting this stuff on your bed, kay?"

"That's fine with me. It looks horrible in there, though, be aware."

"Why, cause I haven't been here to clean it?" Pepper asked, cocking her head to one side, "That couldn't be the reason, could it?"

"Actually, no. I realized that I didn't know how to use the washing machine."

"You didn't know… why didn't you just use JARVIS?" asked Pepper with a shake of her head.

"I didn't _want_ to use him. I wanted to figure it out on my own, but I took it apart completely, and I still didn't understand what setting went with what sensor."

"Well, I guess I'll have to teach you then."

"I guess you will," he said, smiling at her again. She had to pull her eyes away from his.

"Rhodey'll be here in fifteen minutes, so you might need to take your heels off."

"No way," she laughed, towing her mother and her dress down the hallway, "I'm done with short men and their demands."

She heard him laugh as he walked into the kitchen and turned to her mother, "See? He doesn't even know how to use the washing machine. Flawed individual. Flawed individual, indeed."

"At least he tried to learn." Pepper's mother said with a smile.

They walked into Tony's bedroom and Pepper threw her dress down on his bed and fell back on it, so tired she wanted to fall asleep. The bed smelled like him, and she just wanted to lie there all day. She looked around as her mother watched her lying there with raised eyebrows and then finally sat up.

"It's not that dirty in here." Pepper said, taking in a pile of neatly folded clothes, with a sticky note attached, "Oh, thank god, it wasn't a completely hopeless situation. Natasha was here."

"Who…?"

"Kind of hard to explain… she goes by Natalie Rushman if you meet her. I assume she'll show up at some point during the party."

"Is she…"

"No." Pepper smirked, "She's not. Now go mingle before the family wonders where you are."

"Where's Pepper?" she heard someone yell, and followed the voice out to the kitchen where Tony was sitting on the counter and Rhodey was sitting on the floor next to him.

"James!" Pepper smiled widely.

"Pepper," he said, smiling back genially, and hugged her, "I heard about what happened and I'm so sorry. But I'm also kind of mad you didn't tell anyone about what he did when he did it the first time."

"Tell me about it," said Natasha, walking into the kitchen.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Shouldn't you be off murdering people or something?"

"Thanks for cleaning up, Natasha," Pepper said, giving her a hug.

"You're very welcome, and it was desperately needed. And I was wondering if you needed anyone's ass beaten to a bloody pulp?"

"Someone else, namely me, already offered, Natasha, so I suggest you take back your little suggestion," said Tony, narrowing his eyes at her.

"You'd go in and shoot him to pieces. I'd slit his throat and then set fire to the place. There's an obvious winner there, and mine is much less likely to trace."

"Yeah… but…"

"Okay, no more." Pepper said, holding up her hands.

Tony smirked and pulled her closer to him. Pepper leaned back against him like it was nothing. Because of course it didn't mean anything at all. He was just being his normal protective self. And that was absolutely fine with her.

…

At ten o'clock Pepper decided it was time for this party to end. It had been a horribly long day and she was tired of dealing with people. Tony escorted everyone out the door and Pepper kissed her parents goodbye. At eleven, it was finally just the two of them, like always. Tony went down to his workshop in the basement and Pepper sat upstairs and worked on her laptop. It had always worked like this. They enjoyed each other's company from a distant. She could hear him talking to JARVIS downstairs and he could hear her tapping on her laptop upstairs. It was just one of those things that, Pepper decided, she would never take for granted.

At midnight Pepper shut down her laptop and went down to the workshop to tell him good night, but Tony had other plans. He slid out from under the nearest car and wiped his hands on a rag.

"When I talked to the police they said it would be smarter just to keep you in my house overnight. They said they wouldn't be able to get an arrest warrant until tomorrow so he'll still be out there, and you know my house has better security than your apartment…"

"Don't you think this is a little too much?"

"No," he smiled, "Just take the guest bedroom and I'll stay away, I promise."

Pepper sighed, "Fine. But don't stay up too late, you still have meetings scheduled for tomorrow."

He nodded at her and gave her a small smile and Pepper climbed up and got into bed. Falling asleep wasn't a problem, it was the waking up that was. When Pepper opened her eyes it was still dark, except for a sliver of moonlight coming in through the window. Pepper felt a breeze on her cheek which was strange, since the window had never been open. She opened her eyes a little further and gasped.

At the edge of her bed was John, and he was holding a gun. He stroked the nozzle lovingly and smiled at her.

"Hey Virginia," he said menacingly, his eyes staring at her hungrily, "You and I are gonna take a little trip. I hope you don't mind. After all, I know you're having fun here with the man you cheated on me with."

Pepper made to get up out of bed and run past him towards the door, but he pointed the gun at her.

"Don't worry, we don't need to use the door. The windows open… that's how I got in…"

But he was cut off mid sentence as Tony opened the door and cracked him in the head. He fell over holding his head and started firing shots around the room. Pepper climbed onto her bed and hit him over the head with a lamp. He stopped firing and began groaning, giving Tony the time to jump him. Before he knew what had happened, he was tied against a chair in the room with one of Pepper's jackets.

"Tony," she whispered, she was shaking like a leaf.

He ran to her and held her so tightly it almost hurt. But in a good way. Not in the way that John made her hurt, but in a way that told her that he might actually feel something good for her.

"JARVIS," Tony yelled at the ceiling, "Call 911. Give them our address and say we just had an attempted assault. And an ambulance… do you need an ambulance?"

"No… no," she shook her head, "I didn't get… are you okay?"

He nodded, even though she could feel his heart racing against hers, "No ambulance, JARVIS. And tell them to get here quickly."

"Yes, sir."

"What's wrong?" Pepper whispered against his chest, "Please tell me you didn't…"

"No," he said quietly, holding her even tighter than he had before, "I just… I can't believe what he was saying to you. Why, Pepper, why?"

He rocked her back and forth and she could tell he was crying, "I don't know."

He kissed the top of her head and then pulled away from her, dug through a drawer, and pulled out an old MIT sweatshirt

"Put this on, they'll want to talk to us outside."

She pulled it over her head and nodded and they walked outside holding hands.

…

The police had questioned them for over an hour and Pepper had basically ended up telling the whole story of her crappy day a million times. They'd all just nodded, and said okay. Then they'd taken John a way, still in a state of unconsciousness since he was hit over the head with that surprisingly damaging lamp.

Then they'd all left and now it was just Tony and Pepper again, just like it had been three hours ago when Pepper had fallen asleep. They sat on the couch for a while, staring blankly at the TV, even though it was playing Tony's favorite episode of Dance Moms ever.

Then finally, at 2 in the morning, Tony announced that he was going to bed, which prompted Pepper to bite the bullet and ask. Even though she felt it was extremely awkward. Which it undoubtedly was. Tony smirked at her and giggled in that weird way of his.

"You want to sleep with me, Miss. Potts?"

Pepper narrowed her eyes, "That's not what I meant."

"I was joking," he said, leading her to his bedroom, climbing into bed, and patting the space beside him, "By the way… what do you call a computer that can sing? A dell."

Pepper crossed her arms as he winked at her, "Now I don't know if this is really worth it."

"Whatever," he said still smiling, "Feel free to sleep on the floor."

Pepper rolled her eyes and climbed into bed beside him, leaving on the lamp, one identical to the one she'd smashed John's head with. Funny.

"Your sister's pretty cool, you know?" Tony commented, staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I think we're soulmates."

"She's eleven… you're thirty-six."

"Exactly. It's like I imprinted on her."

"Sorry, Tony, but you don't have the physique to be a werewolf."

"They're not werewolves Pepper, they're called wolves. Get it right. And I think I do."

"You do?"

"I do…. Ya wanna see?"

"Maybe later."

"_Maybe later_? What does that mean?"

"Nothing important."

"So what else do you wanna talk about?"

"How bout how much I want to go to sleep right now?"

"That's a boring topic, and besides, I can't go to bed with a bedtime story first."

"How does anyone want to have sex with you when you're so irritating in bed."

"Ouch. Harsh. And what's up with you and your sister bringing up the past today? I thought we agreed not to speak of the EE."

"EE?"

"Evil Era."

"You just came up with that."

"I know."

Tony rolled over and faced her, "I like you Pepper. Why don't you and I just get married?"

"We've never dated…"

"It sure seems like we have."

"It seems kind of irrational. I'm always getting on your nerves."

"That's true. But I'm always getting on yours, too. Like I obviously am right now, based on the way you're turning red."

"That's only because it's not often you get proposals from a coworker."

"It's not often you sleep in your coworker's bed either, huh?"

"This is a one time thing. Believe me."

"Anyway, so what do you say?"

"You haven't even got a ring."

"Of course I have a ring. I bought one years ago just in case I met someone.

"You're such a liar."

"I swear."

"I've never seen it and I've been in every drawer in your house."

"Just another reason why we should get married. You know everything about me. And I just met your sister and your mom. And I know you have horrible taste in guys… like John for example. And I don't keep it in a drawer."

Tony reached under the mattress, pulled it out, and handed it to her. It was pretty and lot more understated than what Pepper had imagined he'd pick. It was a single band with one tiny diamond, but somehow it said a lot more than one of the typical fifteen pound celebrity rings.

"So what do you say, Peps? We'll be engaged. We just won't tell anyone."

Pepper smiled, "And then one day we'll get married and everyone will be like 'What just happened?'"

"And then one day," Tony said, getting into it, "all of a sudden, we'll have a kid and they'll be like what the heck, she wasn't even pregnant."

"But it will have been a trick," Pepper laughed, "And the kid wasn't even ours. Then the next day, they'll be like Oh My God, Now she's pregnant..."

"But it wasn't even mine because it turns out you cheated on me."

"With an alien named… John."

They both cracked up laughing, and Tony smiled, "Exactly. It's the perfect plan. So what do you say."

"I might agree."

"Really?"

"Maybe… If you proposed properly."

"Okay," he said, smiling, "Hold on one second."

He went into the closet for five minutes and then came out dressed in a tux and holding his hair gel. She did his hair for him, like always and he got down on one knee.

"Pepper Virginia Potts, will you please accept the honor of marrying the one and only Iron Man."

"Tony…"

"Fine," he sighed, "Pepper Virginia Potts, will you please do me the honor of marrying me."

Pepper giggled and nodded, and as he put the ring on her finger she kissed him for the first time. Which was kind of funny since they were technically engaged. He climbed into bed next to her and held her to his chest and they fell asleep that way. Pepper in his MIT sweatshirt and pajamas, him with his hair gelled and in a tuxedo and everything to Pepper seemed perfectly right, even though it was desperately messed up. That, Pepper decided, was just the way she liked it.

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_Love always,_

_Sofia_


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